


Say it out loud

by bouenkyou



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Brothers bonding, Gen, HQ Rarepair Week, mentions of akisae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-20 05:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3638268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bouenkyou/pseuds/bouenkyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kei receives a mistaken text from Akiteru and figures out his brother is hiding something from him. He won't rest until he finds out what Akiteru is hiding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Say it out loud

**Author's Note:**

> for [Haikyuu!! Rarepair Week](http://hqrarepairweek.tumblr.com) Day 5: Mistakes/Texting
> 
> This is a sort of spiritual sequel to [You make the world disappear](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3612270)! I was overjoyed when I found out I could write gen pieces for the week because the world needs more Akiteru & Kei bonding.  
> Big thanks to Isy for betaing!

Kei squints at his phone.

He can’t believe his eyes, so he scrambles for his glasses and puts them on before re-reading the text. He finds that reading with glasses doesn’t make a difference whatsoever—it’s still nonsensical.

Honestly, he wants to kill Akiteru for replying so late. Kei wrote to him ages ago and he actually didn’t even need a reply.

The actual reply is another huge problem. Kei reads it a third time and a wave of mortification washes over him.

_From: Akiteru  
I’m really looking forward to seeing you again soon, you looked really sexy today._

His brother is an adult—he wouldn’t send something so stupid just to spite him, so the logical response would be that he made a mistake.

Kei doesn’t break his screen with how forcefully he punches in his reply, but it’s a near thing.

_To: Akiteru  
What.the.fuck._

He turns off his phone after his reply. That way he’ll sleep peacefully.

In the morning he has a string of texts from Akiteru. He reads them all and sighs; he really can’t understand why most people can’t apologize just once.

_From: Akiteru  
Sorry, Kei! I was a little tipsy and I opened the wrong convo. That was for my girlfriend!_

_From: Akiteru  
I’m really, really sorry! Seriously, I’ll make it up to you! We can go eat something!_

_From: Akiteru  
Did you go to bed? Sorry I woke ypu, I wanted to apologize… good nihrt._

_From: Akiteru  
You* night*_

Kei tries really hard not to roll his eyes. His brother can be extremely clingy sometimes.

Still, his eyes linger on the first text for a whole minute—the word _girlfriend_ makes his chest constrict a little.

He had expected Akiteru to have a girlfriend, but it’s the first time there’s a confirmation about it. Kei doesn’t think much about the fact, but it’s suspicious to him that Akiteru hadn’t mentioned it before. He would have wanted his brother to tell him.

It’s almost as if Akiteru wanted to keep it a secret… Kei frowns at that thought; he shakes his head to clear it, but it won’t go away. Last time Akiteru kept something from him, it ended badly.

In the end, he decides that Akiteru must have a reason to hide it, if that’s actually the case, and shrugs it off, trying to forget the whole ordeal. By the end of the day he has forgotten about it.

Later, before dinnertime, there’s an incident that makes Kei’s initial anxiety resurface.

He is walking downstairs after his shower, ready to sit on the table to enjoy his dinner when he hears a hushed conversation from the kitchen.

“She’s so lovely!” he hears his mom whisper.

“Yes, I’ll bring her over sometime, but listen, you can’t tell him.” 

This time Akiteru is the one talking, and Kei narrows his eyes. He didn’t know Akiteru was coming today.

Moreover, this secrecy is strange. Either they’re trying to hide something from dad, or it’s from him. He wants to know. Unease blooms in his chest with the idea that it might be from him.

He walks into the kitchen nonchalantly, on impulse, and both Akiteru and their mom visibly jump. They look at him and then at each other, tension filling the air. Kei tries very hard not to clench his jaw.

“Aki, I didn’t know you were coming,” Kei says as casually as possible, as a manner of greeting.

“Ah, yes! I wanted to, um, you see…” Akiteru is visibly shaken and he looks pitifully at their mother.

“I asked him to join us for dinner,” she cheerfully interjects,“you see, he barely comes home lately; isn’t that too sad?”

They both nod and smile and Kei’s stomach churns. He excuses himself when his mother tells him dinner won’t be ready yet, and goes back to his room.

The scene replays in his head. He can hear Akiteru’s voice echoing, _“You can’t tell him.”_

He drops face-down on the bed and suppresses the urge to scream. He remembers seeing his brother sitting on the bench during a game; remembers the confusion and then the betrayal.

Tears threaten to form on the corner of his eyes, but he holds then back.

At the dinner table, he hardly touches his food. He grunts an apology and leaves the room as soon as his mother starts picking up the dishes. Akiteru follows him upstairs, but Kei locks the door to his room before his brother can say anything.

“I’m going to sleep,” he says through the door when Akiteru knocks. A second knock doesn’t come, so he assumes his brother gave up.

Perhaps this is childish on his side, avoiding his brother like this, but if Akiteru is hiding something from him, he deserves the consequences.

Kei goes to bed and tries to sleep.

The sad part is he doesn’t get a blink of sleep. He spends the whole night thinking about the conversation he heard earlier.

The only logical conclusion he can reach is that Akiteru doesn’t want him to know about his girlfriend, but why? After all, he admitted to having a girlfriend in his text.

Kei racks his brain, trying to come up with a reason why this is supposed to be a secret, but he can’t come up with anything that makes sense. He’s exhausted and at this point all he wants is go to Akiteru and yell at him about this and maybe hit him square in the jaw, but he’s sure his mom won’t approve of that.

Confrontation is the only way out of this one, he thinks, and before he can regret it, he knocks on Akiteru’s room, half-hoping he’s back at the dorm already.

“Come in,” Akiteru says. Kei takes a deep breath before walking into the room.

“Hey,” Kei says, walking to Akiteru’s bed. His brother is sitting at his desk, doing something in his laptop, but he stops and faces Kei when his legs hit the mattress.

“Is something the matter, Kei?” he asks, expectantly. Kei stares at him for a long time, not saying anything. Akiteru frowns, figuring out it’s something more serious than he expected.

“What are you hiding from me?” Kei finally asks; tone low and serious. Akiteru’s eyes widen at the question, and he looks away from Kei.

“Erm…” Akiteru starts fiddling with his laptop again, “Why do you think I’m hiding something?”

Rage overflows Kei’s body, his body temperature rising. He keeps his face as calm as possible, trying not to make his annoyance evident. In his rage fit, a fleeting thought crosses Kei’s head—at least Akiteru’s didn’t rush to say it was _nothing_ —that gives his mind some relief, but it doesn’t fix the fact that Akiteru is hiding something.

“I heard you and mom talking.” 

_About your girlfriend_ , his brain helpfully provides, but Kei can’t say the words. 

“You’re hiding something,” he finishes, voice quivering. His tone is quite petulant, he notices, but it’s not jealousy—it’s more like a deep, enraged bitterness. The idea of not being allowed into Akiteru’s happiness makes him feel lost.

The silence stretches between them. Akiteru looks positively uncomfortable to be having this conversation, but Kei won’t back down so easily. 

“You better tell me what’s going on,” Kei says, crossing his arms over his chest.

Akiteru sighs deeply and looks at him; Kei has the impression Akiteru looks way older than he had ever seen him.

“Incredible… I try to do something to keep you from being hurt, and look at you. You look like you’re about to cry,” Akiteru stretches his hand and ruffles Kei’s hair before bursting into laughter. 

“Have you lost your mind?” Kei inquires, seeing him chortling almost hysterically, “what are you talking about?"

When Akiteru finally regains his breath, he sighs deeply before speaking.

“I’m sorry, Kei… I didn’t mean to hide that I had a girlfriend, it’s just…” He scratches his neck. 

“I didn’t think you were going to approve of her.”

Kei rolls his eyes.

“My brother is a nutcase,” he murmurs. 

“Listen, if you’re happy, that’s great. I don’t care much about her, but being completely left out about it? I don’t like that.” The last part of the statement comes out forcefully and Akiteru winces at the words.

“I see… you’re right. I shouldn’t have been secretive about it, but, are you sure you won’t care?” Akiteru seems nervous, and his nervousness is becoming contagious. Kei feels his neck prickle.

“It she someone I know?” he asks, almost scared to know. When Akiteru nods, his anxiety shoots up.

“It’s not Shimizu-senpai, right? Please tell me it’s not her!” He’s so mortified. Akiteru narrows his eyes and grins.

“Why? Do you like Shimizu?” he asks, tone teasing.

“Stop. No, this isn’t about me,” Kei recollects his composure somehow and Akiteru laughs knowingly.

“No, it’s not your beloved Shimizu-senpai; it’s a girl who was my junior in high school. Her name is Saeko.”  
Akiteru pauses and looks away, blushing,“Tanaka Saeko.”

“Tanaka… Tanaka?” The distaste is evident in Kei’s face. 

“Seriously? Tanaka-senpai’s sister?”

“See, this is why I didn’t want to tell you,” Akiteru says, sighing.

“She’s loud, nosy, rude… does mom know she rides a motorcycle?” Kei’s voice takes on an innocent tone in the last question. Akiteru narrows his eyes.

“No, and you won’t tell her unless you want her to hear about the magazines you keep in the back of the closet.” Akiteru smiles triumphantly when Kei flails his arms in protest. 

“My girlfriend might be all that for you, but hey, it’s better than me stealing your Shimizu-senpai away, right?” His teasing tone returns.

“Stop it about Shimizu-senpai, it’s not like that,” Kei chokes out, but his blush reaches the tip of his ears. Akiteru’s smile softens.

“Anyway, I’ll bring Saeko here soon,” he says, tone serious, “if you promise to behave; I’d love for you to meet her.”

“Yes, yes,” he sighs insufferably, “whatever.”

“And… Sorry,” Akiteru says, bowing, “I’m sorry for hiding something from you. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, but it looks like I made it worse by making you feel excluded.” He stretches his hand and rubs Kei’s head softly, smiling lovingly.

“Stop it. You’re gross,” Kei deadpans. Akiteru cackles and tries to subject him to more petting, but Kei manages to escape very quickly. He runs to the door, but stops before walking out.

“Thanks, big bro,” he says, softly. The sound of Akiteru’s whimper follows him to the hallway.

“I swear, Kei! I won’t hide anything from you again, come back and give your brother a hug!” he shouts from his bedroom and Kei groans, fleeing to his room. He locks the door once he’s in, just in case Akiteru feels like coming in to cash in that hug.

His cellphone lies forgotten in his bedside table. Kei looks at it and sighs. His brother is dating Tanaka’s sister. He vaguely wonders if Tanaka-senpai knows about this. His brain starts machinating a way to find out. A few ideas of how to tell him in case he doesn’t know yet also pop up in his mind. Unknowingly, a cruel grin twists his face. He grabs his cellphone and starts typing.

_You won’t believe what I just heard from my brother…_

**Author's Note:**

> ...and then Tanaka Ryuunosuke bursts into the Tsukishima household requesting a match for his sister's honor, ha!
> 
> Comments are more than welcome!  
> I love the Tsukishima brothers so much, talk to me about them ;w;


End file.
